When Maximum Ride Meets Kaa
by renwulf
Summary: This is by me and SweetlySally from an RP we're currently playing. Without her assistance, I would never have gotten this far. Here's the first part. Enjoy!
1. Welcome to the Jungle, Max Chapter 1

Max and her flock—Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel—were the results of a genetic experiment inflicted upon them from birth that made them recombinant DNA life-forms. Grafted with avian DNA, gifted with wings, and enhanced with the ability to fly, they are on the run from the scientists who made them…

As of now, I was soaring above the trees looking out for anything that didn't look junglely. Yeah-you heard me right-me and my merry band of winged mutants were in the middle of a jungle and let me tell you it's no safari. Plainly speaking, the forecast in this place is...always hot during the day and humid at night. Now pay attention because I'm not going to wait around all day, not while the world's counting on me. The flock and I recently escaped from a secret lab hidden underneath a castle in Germany. Based on some files we've been able to snatch during our brief captivity**-**courtesy of the supposedly genius scientists who could mix-and-match genes and stuff them in a kid's body but can't keep a safe lock *safe***-**there's another secret lab hidden in the jungles of Southern Asia that's conducting experiments on the local wild life. If there's anybody I know who can't stand it when evil white coats pick on little helpless forest creature, it's my tree hugging, furry smothering kids. And our pet dog, and my stoic friend Fang, and me.

Well we needed to find that lab first, but how can you find anything in a vast stretch of green that seem to go on and on for square miles. I landed on the nearest tree branch to check the map Angel had copied from the other notes we snatched from Germany. Needless to say, I was very proud of her. Where would I be without my baby?

"I don't know why secret labs are always so freaking hard to find." I complained to myself, as I surveyed the map. I checked my watch and sighed. It was getting late and…I had no exact idea where the hell I was. Awhile back I told the kids to break camp while I took a look around. I had no idea I was going to be gone for that long, but you know what they say: "Victory lies in not making stupid mistakes" or something like that. Without thinking, I shrieked as I threw down the map and slumped against the tree trunk.

"Stupid evil labs and their stupid top secret locations."

_Just shut up Max, and get your butt back in gear._ That was only my conscience talking and not the Voice, thankfully. You know, **the** Voice who talks inside my head to lend me advice or to berate me. It seems to know what I'm doing wherever I am, whenever. I don't know how its does that, but frankly I don't want to think about that. I sighed again, but my conscience was right. I had first better retrieve that map before the Voice shows up again. I was feeling a little edgy right now, and that voice was the last thing I needed to bug me. I opened my wings and glided down to a long branch a few feet off the ground. There was a bush where the map fall in, so I knelt on the branch and stuck my hand in feeling around for it. I got only leaves and little buds, but what I felt next made me freeze like an icicle. It wasn't the map.

"Sssaaay now, WHAT do we have here?" A hissy voice said behind me. "Hmmmn...hee...he he ha ho hee-it'sss a girl-cub! With birdie wingsss!

"Oh shi-"I nearly blurted out before I cuffed my mouth. I know that foul language was strictly taboo, but hey, wouldn't you rather curse than crap in your pants? I looked up at the approaching reptile, just slowly descending like a spider, and I arched my whole upper body back. I wanted to get away, but my legs wouldn't move a muscle. My eyes widened at the sheer size of the serpent.

"Gee mister." I struggled to what to call it, while my whole body shivered. "I thought I'd only see huge and pretty…and charming…and huge snakes in nine inch pet pens at _PetSmart_."

"Why thank you for sssuch charming complimentsss from a ssstranger, little one." Fortunately the snake stopped me before I could embarrass myself in front of him, but why would he call me little one…or a _girl-cub_? Suddenly, I forgot about all of my fears of things that were scaly and go screech in the night just like. What came over me in the next few seconds was instinct; I never liked it when guys or even snakes in that matter get chauvinistic and pushy around me.

I stood up and crossed my arms nonchalantly. "That's Avian American to you. Now I know that God made snakes to crawl on their bellies, but he never gave them a smart mouth to be perverts. You had to have been made in a lab somewhere nearby, right? Now where is it?" The snake leaned a little closer, but I didn't stir. Despite my new found bravery, to be honest I hoped he was only getting close to get a good look at me. Like he suggested, he's never seen a winged human before, right?

"My, my, my, what an impresssive ssspecimen you are, and a ssspunky one too. If you permit me to sssay ssso, however."

I looked at him with an arching eyebrow. "I didn't, but go ahead."

The snake retracted a little, to my relief. "You are not a very sssmart one, _Maximum Ride_."

"Oh really?" I made a balled fist behind my back. "How did you know exactly what to call me?"

"I know such sssecretsss which you don't." The sassy snake curled up like a cat. "There have been ssstrange humansss passsing through my jungle. They came here not three daysss ago, and started taking animalsss and forcing them into metal boxesss which they called cagesss."

"Did I alssso hear you mention a lab, by the way? If thisss interessstsss you dear, I've have followed thessse ssstrange humansss to where they took the animalsss."

I nodded in precision. "So what made you decide to follow these *strange humans* to where they took the animals?"

The snake rolled his eyes into his head. "The animalsss were my dinner, I have to eat don't I?"

"Oh, good point." I snorted to hide my ignorance. "And these strange humans were-wearing brown coats, right?"

"Yesss, and I can alssso take you to them, and anyone elssse with you, asss a show of good faith amongssst usss fellow mutantsss."

I grinned. "They wear white coats you liar!" I dropped my expectant guise and grabbed the little worm by the mouth, closing them shut. I have to say that I was feeling empowered and brave tackling a gigantic snake all by myself without the flock's help. Even I can surprise me sometimes.

"Unless you tell me where your little forest friends were being taken," I growled like a mad bear, "I'll tape up that forked tongue of yours together, and then you can stay here and rot as a show of good faith!"

"Mwi bill pwaf two repemper pat shince twin him cwoter pwine," was all I got as a response from the snake.

"You said something?" I said, letting his mouth in a bit of breathing room.

"I sssaid," he answered with a gleam in his eyes which I didn't see, "Thank you for that note on my employersss, and their uniformsss. I will have to remember that, sssince I AM COLOR BLIND!"

"HEY!" I suddenly felt something scaly quickly wrapping my legs together. I flapped my wings as hard as I could; lifting myself a few inches of the branch, but the serpent's massive bulk weighed me down.

"Hee, hee, no need to fret girl-cub... or should I rephrassse that asss *Avian American.*" The snake was just hanging there taunting me, while I was weaving up and down like I was his yo-yo. Well this wasn't to go on any longer, no way baby. I finally whirled around and stared menacingly at the snake like I was a snake myself. The venomous type that bites.

"If you as so much call me girl-cub ONE MORE TIME, I am going to skin you alive and then give you to Nudge as a cute bag, boot and belt COMBO!" Somehow I made this seem threatening. "Now let me go!"

"Oh my," the snake grinned stupidly. "Are you sssure you want to get that clossse to my face? You really are a brave one." As the snake tightened his grip on my legs, a distinct swirl of color was gleaming in his unblinking eyes.

"I said let me...what the hell is with the lightshow?"


	2. It is a pretty light show Chapter 2

"It isss a pretty lightssshow, dear, the prettiessst one you'll want to sssee again...and again...and again. That'sss right dear; LOOK into my eyesss."

"Like that...will...what's going on?" As soon as I looked at his so called 'lightshow,' I started to feel...odd. It was like my…mind was being…drained of all…thought…it was getting…hard for me to…to think of anything! "No I...can't" I protested.

"Oh pleassse, oh pleassse," cooed the snake. "I promissse you very much that you will have lotsss, and lotsss, and LOTSSS of fun...my tweedy bird."

I felt like listening to him; the aura in his eyes was soothing my mind, and after all the spraining headaches I had lately, it felt so good let me tell you. Then I felt his tail move slowly around my torso. _Perve Alert_, _Perve Alert_, my mind went off like a siren. "GET YOUR FILTHY COILS OFF ME YOU DAMN DIRTY SNAKE!" I howled loudly and scratched at his coils so he would release me.

This idiot snake was having too much fun making me look like an idiot. "Hee, hee, haa-*AHHH*. I had jussst the grandessst idea, little birdie. Tell me, where...are you...ticklisssh?" That's when the snake started poking my tummy like the Pillsbury dough boy. He poked again and again, and then his poking turned into caressing rubs.

NO...NO...Stop doing that!" Oh God, I wasn't making threats, I was starting to giggle like a schoolgirl in a cheesy Anime show. "Stop...stop...stop...stop!" I chanted between the laughing. My whole body convulsed in the anxiety, but at the same time I didn't want to feel ticklish.

I wanted to get angry! "I SAID STOP-AHH!"

I was suddenly flipped over and before I knew it, he was hanging me upside-down! The nerve of that creep; he was going to get a Maximum whelp from me as soon as…as soon as...AS SOON AS I GET HIM TO STOP TICKLING ME! 

_Meanwhile, elsewhere in the jungle...__  
_

Fang: Alright, listen. *This* is where we are. Ten minutes ago, Max split us into two groups to survey the undergrowth to find anything conspicuous. The deadline was thirty minutes only, and then we would regroup to break camp and try again. Now Max had gone with the younger kids, but they have no idea where she wondered off. Anybody got any clue?

Nudge: What's an *undergrowth*?

Angel: What's conspicuous?

Total: Would Iggy be considered handicapped?

Iggy: Shouldn't someone just tie this dog to a tree and leave him?

Gasman: I was busy digging a latrine, but was I suppose to dig a hole before, or after?

Fang: I need a drink of...do you guys hear something?

Iggy: Yeah, what was that?

Gasman: Probably just an animal.

Nudge: I hope its okay.

Total: Sounds too distressing for it to be Max anyways.

Angel, the youngest child, stood at the edge of the clearing facing the vast jungle. She wasn't quite convinced about the flock's reassurance of the mysterious noise. She knew Max was a tough warrior of different trades, but she just wanted to make sure if her Max was alright, whether she needed help or not. Her mind surfed through the trees like radio waves. Nothing. Just the wildlife. She was just going to walk off into the jungle without conscience-will, when her mind picked something up...

"Fang," Angel called. "I think I found Max."

"Max? Wait a minute, did you hear her voice?" Fang picked up his ears.

"No, but I can hear her conscience out there. But it feels like it's getting quieter-slowly fading. It feels like something is de-volumenizing her conscience..."

"You mean silencing, not _de-volumenizing_?"

"That's what I meant." Angel looked up at Fang, battering her pretty blue eyes.

"Can you pinpoint Max's location exactly?"

"No. I can't get an exact point if her conscience isn't wide awake."

"Then we…we can't go out there."

Angel was taken back at Fang's words. "But Fang, we can't just sit here and wait!"

Fang knew this six-year old was talking more than just sense; she was right. But right now, it was getting dark and he knew that this was not the right time to wander out in the jungle. Fang wasn't the diplomatic type to take his time or make compromises. He handled all of his problems like an all-out soldier, just like Max. Like a soldier however, he needed to have a strategy at hand, to keep his squadron safe. If they just did what seemed right at the moment, such as rescuing Max in a strange place and with the night coming on, they could get killed.

"I know Angel." Fang held Angel by her shoulder. "But it's too dangerous right now. We need to get some rest, and then make a plan in the morning."

Fang wasn't sounding like Fang, Angel thought. "Yeah, but Max-"

"What would Max do if she was here, and one of us was missing?" Fang

An uneasy pause swirled between them. The dusk of the sun was descending behind, and the song of the jungle night began with a single chirp of a night bird like it did not understand the dire situation at hand.

Angel didn't answer at the moment, until: She would...make a plan, after breakfast.

"I know." Fang led her back to the camp. "I don't like that plan ether. She'll just have to make it through the night. Don't worry Angel, before you know it she'll be back in the morning."

Angel only frowned. "...She may not be here in the morning.


	3. Don't give in Maximum Chapter 3

I groaned as the spiraling…stupid…pretty…pretty stupid colors bored into my eyes. "When I get out..." I seethed through my…barred teeth. "I'm going to...tie your head to...to a tree…and let Angel and Nudge skip rope you."

I felt the snake's tail slinking down my waist and going around my throat. "Sssleep, sssleep, for one hundred daysss little one." cooed the snake. "For eternal peace for you, and a full ssstomach for me, is what ssshall be fulfilled."

I started to say another insult, but all that came out was "Ssscrew yyyoouuuuu…"

His coil was massaging my neck. Whatever the heck he was doing, it felt like a thousand little fingers rubbing and tickling me at the same time. I could also feel it from my ankles, where I hung from like a bat, to my brain. The coils felt like a professional massager in a five star hotel.

I was still in a semi-conscience state, so I struggled a bit to break free, but I couldn't help but giggle a little bit because of the soothing condition I was under. I was becoming…weaker with every word…coming out of my mouth, my mind felt like it was shutting down. My face began to relax against my will. My eyes were drooping softly…I couldn't help it…all of this just felt so awesome.

"I'm gonna...take a nap." For some reason…I smiled a little wider…my mind almost…

_Don't give in, Maximum._

My serine expression became pierced with confusion. "V-voice?" I breathed, almost inaudibly.

_You can fight this Maximum, everyone is depending on you. _

"Everyone...is always...depending on me..." I sighed, irritated. "Can't I relax...for a...bit?"

_You will die if you-_

"Just go…away…please…"

Now this was about as non-Max as anything could get. But this normally adamant bird kid needed this weird, but soothing, and gentle massage. Without conscience-will, I smiled from the sensation around me. It just felt so…so awesome! I gave a bit of a throaty giggle under the ministrations.

"Yah...yes...mmmm!" I groaned out under my own breath.

_Maximum..__Maximum…__Maximum__…_ The Voice faded into little more than a whisper as my mind welcomed the warm embrace around me. I saw the snake's face and his pretty rainbow eyes again.

"Yesss, look into my eyesss girl-cub, and you will sssee heaven." The snake's colors in his eyes were flashing even brighter.

"Okay" I exhaled tiredly.

I giggled a bit as I looked into his eyes. Suddenly, I was starting to love hearing the sound of his voice telling me what to do. I didn't care about that anymore. Didn't care if he was turning me into a zombie, or a robot slave, or a circus monkey. I just didn't care anymore, I just wanted to sleep…just wanted…some rest…now I'm gonna…stop…writing…

_**Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz **_

Iggy, the blind bird kid along with his young explosively-minded sidekick were strolling through the jungle looking for the source of the shouting. It was at Angel's request to look before the morning, and not Fang's, so they knew they were asking for big trouble.

"You sure it was Max?" Gazzy inquired, shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.

"I never forget a voice., especially hers." Iggy smirked.

Gasman giggled "Yah" Then he did a perfect imitating voice of Max's motherly persona:

"Gazzy, don't put your feet there! Iggy, pick up your clothes! Both of you stop making bombs before Home Land Security catches you."

Iggy chuckled. "Speaking of bombs..." Gazzy remarked in his normal voice as he brought out a single bomb from his pocket.

"That's it?" Iggy said once he had placed it in his hand.

"Max found my stash" Gazzy pouted.

Iggy raised an eyebrow "Then where did you hide this, the usual place?" Gazzy grinned.

"Nice" Iggy smiled and then the two high fived each other. "Kay, you get the bombs back from your hiding place, and I'll wait here, got it?"

Gazzy nodded, but then a look of confusion crossed his face. "How many bombs do you think we'll need?"

"Bring the whole stash!" Iggy said impatiently.

"You do know we could end up blowing this whole jungle up. I mean, if we find Max then she'll know about the secret stash."

"Aren't you overlooking something Gazzy? Let's say if we do find Max, but she's in a heap of trouble. Think she'll be grateful about the extra firepower we brought?"

Good point there Ig…I'll bring along the C4!" Gazzy ran back to the base camp as fast as he could pelt.

Iggy leaned up against a tree, placing the bomb in his back pocket. Then he heard a voice up in the tree he was leaning against. "Hello?" He called up loudly. "Who's up there?" He tensed up when he heard another sound above. He tilted his head down to hear better when suddenly, he was scooped up by something scaly...a snake tale.

"Hey!" He cried, having no idea what's going on. Iggy stopped struggling when he felt whatever was pulling him up perching him gently on a branch, but the tail around his waist didn't loosen its grip. That was what still freaked him out.

"...what isss thisss?" a voice said menacingly. "It ssseemsss we have another visssssitor already. Another weasssel sssssneaking around to revel my little sssecretsss? Then I will oblige you."

Now he was really freaked out. "What's going on? Let me go!" He cried, resuming his struggling.


	4. Along Came A Fly Chapter 4

"Oh, but I will," the snake weaved his head around to meet Iggy's face. "Asss sssoon as you ssstop ssstruggling and lend me your earsss, I will releassse you."

"You want me to give you my ears?" Iggy meant that as a sarcastic joke, but it didn't sound as hilarious in his panicky tone. "What are you, some crazy voodoo snake with a lisp?"

"Certainly not," said the snake. "But I know that you are here looking for a certain female companion, are you not?"

The snake's intriguing question made Iggy stop struggling for a brief moment, but he was still on guard in case it was a trap. "How did you know about Max?"

"I have eyesss in every rock and in every tree in thisss jungle," the snake grinned. "I also hold the world'sss mossst powerful sssecret in my mind…if you will allow me to demonssstrate."

"Yah, *don't care* pal!" Iggy interjected as he continued to struggle again. "And I don't plan on listening to any secrets till someone gets me off of this ride, okay?" He tilted his head to a point slightly to the left of the snake's massive head. "You can get off, right?"

"Ah, but there isss no need to get off this very inssstant," the snake smiled. "In fact, unlesss you lend me you're cooperation entirely, and make no fusssesss and noisssesss, you will misss out on a great experience that will make you happy forever."

"Yeah, and what could you possibly have that could make me happy?" Iggy asked, not out of curiosity however, but obligation.

"Jusst look into my eyesss and you will sssee heaven in all of her gloriesss."

"...heaven?" Iggy gave a bit of a mirthless laugh. "Oh the things you miss when you can't see...anyways can I go now? I have a lot of work to do. Ya know, saving the world and such."

"You don't ssseem to grasssp at what I am offering you." The snake's tone was all of a sudden growing dangerous His tail began to wrap around Iggy's neck and chest.

"Look dude, I'd love to look at you-I would love to see anything-but I can't. I AM BLIND!"

Iggy huffed up his bangs to reveal his milky white eyes. "So I can't take your gift, so I'm sorry, but don't blame me for something evil scientists did, now will you please let me GO!"

"W-what?" The snake wasn't paying attention to Iggy's protests; merely excusing them as childish ranting. Even though he was colored-blind, now that he got a closer look at the man-cub's eyes he noticed his pupils were too pale indicating that he was telling the truth. The snake was baffled.

"I will find some way to get you to sssubmit," the snake hissed. "Even if it meansss sssqueezing the life out of you."

Iggy gashed as the coils tightened around him. Feeling completely trapped, he tried to call for help. 

The Gasman was running back to the place where he left Iggy, with his pockets stuffed with enough explosives to make a professional bomb squad nervous...but Iggy was nowhere in sight.

"Iggy? IG! I'm back! Where are you?" He called out loudly.

Iggy's head popped up as he heard Gazzy call him. "GAZ RUN! GET H-" the rest of his warning was silenced as the snake wrapped a coil around his mouth.

"Iggy?" He looked up at the tree above him. 

The snake quickly snapped his head around to where Iggy was starting to shout at.

"Oh now wha-" he started to say in frustration, but then his voice turned into a seething, loathsome, and greedy hiss when he spotted yet another man-cub beneath his tree.

"I'll be right down, stay right there, man-cub number two." he whispered. He lowered his down slowly, so to not scare the youngling away.

"Yesss, yesss, who isss it?" the snake asked ever so politely.

The Gasman backed up slightly as he saw the reptilian's head lowered before him. "Whoa, talking snake...cool!" he exclaimed an interested grin forming on his face. "Did you see a blind bird kid around here lately? I've got a few things for him." He asked expectantly, his blue eyes shining with excitement.

"Oh, um, I'm afraid not. I haven't ssseen anyone but you crosss by here," the snake lied. Upon hearing him say _bird kid_, he was trying his best to swallow up all of his excitement.

"By the way, do I fassscinate you because I'm…well…a talking snake?"

"Um, well not really, because we have a talking dog...with wings!" said the Gasman, unfurling his own.

The snake's stomach was boiling with raging excitement. The others were here in the jungle, and none of them but the leader would be anticipating what he was about to do. However, he didn't have the time to dwell in his gluttonous fantasies when he saw the little boy turn to leave.

"Sorry I can't stay, but now two of my friends are missing. I got to go back to camp."

"Pleassse, don't go jussst yet," the snake pretended to beg. "I'm a very lonely ssserpent with no family of my own. You might know how it feelsss, _sssurvival of the fittessst_ and sssuch.

Gazzy turned back to the giant serpent, a look of almost regretful sadness on his face. "Sorry dude, family comes first...besides I fear the wraith of Max" He added smirking. "When she says I'm gonna duct tape your mouth shut for a week if you don't stop imitating me, she means it." Ironically, the paraphrased threat was done in a perfectly mimicked form of Max's voice.

Suddenly, an idea began to sprout in the snake's devious mind after hearing the little man-cub's wondrous intimidation of the spunky girl who was snoozing in his coils.

"Ssso you fear thisss Max ssso much?" he hissed. "Fear her ssso much that ssshe won't let you ssstay and accompany me?

"Well not so much fear...I don't really know how to say it. She just knows how to get people to do stuff." He shrugged. "Besides, I can make my own fun. But if she'll let me come back tomorrow, I'll accompany you." 

"Very well then, you may go back to your camp." The snake shrugged, even though he seemed to have no shoulders. "And if I happen to sssee any of your friendsss, then I will inform you firssst. Ssso, are we both satisfied?"

Gazzy smiled gratefully at the snake's promise. "Awesome! Thanks!" He waved goodbye and ran back to the flock's campsite.

As soon as the man-cub was out of sight, the snake returned to the other two bird kids up in his tree. The female was still in her peaceful state of bliss, but the boy had nearly passed out from the tight squeezes. Taking no chances, the snake found some loose vines underneath his branch and pulled some out with his long tail. The white-coats had taught him how to make use of his single limb after he was created, such as tying knots for one thing, and he was surely grateful for that experience. He quickly slipped the vines around the bind one against the tree trunk, and made sure they were tight.

"Now if you will excussse me," the snake leered gleefully, "You're friend and I have a dinner party to attend." He pulled Max next to him and lowered her to the jungle floor.

The barely conscious Iggy could not resist as he struggled against the tree. "If you so much as touch them, I'm going to tie you to a tree and...You're gone aren't you?" The silence was his answer.

"Figures…"


	5. Common Enemy Chapter 5

Zzzzzzzzzz-W-what-wait, what just happened? Had I been asleep? Where am I, and why do I fell like I'm on valium? I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the ground with my arms and legs spread. For some strange reason, I felt refreshed like I was smelling coffee, hazelnut flavored, in the morning.

"Wake up, my preciousss." A voice that sounded like a low-wage clown chuckled. "Oh I loved how you jussst easssily fitted in my coilsss."

I saw a huge snake hanging from the branches above me, leaning a little closer to my face. "Oh, what the heck is this," I complained, "Animal Farm? Who are you anyways?"

"I am the one whom they chossse to wait for you," said the snake. "They knew that you were coming. They knew right after you pulled off your naughty tricksss. They'd let me out of my cage becaussse I'm ssso good at finding prey. Wouldn't that be decadent of me to keep you all to myssself, my little gold mine?"

I didn't know what he was lisping about, but I was feeling like an out-of-bed-grouch to even care what he told me. I just wanted to snooze off like I mysteriously did before. "Right, pal," I mumbled. "Now would you please go away before I turn green and go madly berserk?"

The snake weaved his head in front of my face. "Jussst let me look into you eyesss."

"No," I waved him off. "You bother me, now buzz off."

"You don't…want me to look into your eyesss? Then…you look into mine."

Just what was this guy's problem? Even in the middle of one of Mother Nature's overgrowing front lawn twenty thousand miles away from a cheese enchilada, I can't seem to get a break.

"No sir," I protested while I tried to get up, even though my legs were feeling like jell-o. "You don't want to get me on my angry-Whoa!" I had almost hit the ground with my face when the snake caught me with its coils around my waist.

_Perve Alert, Perve Alert,_ my mind went off suddenly. Why on earth was it thinking that way?

"I don't?" the snake replied with a look of disappointment on his face, which was of course weird for a snake to have a face. "Ssso, you mean you don't have a sssoft ssside?"

"That's none of your business!" I growled at the snake as I tried to get his scaly limb off of me.

"Then it ssseemsss we have nothing in common to ssshare, Maximum Ride."

Whoa, time out! How does a talking snake in the jungle have any idea about who I was? Is it possible that he's been watching Animal Planet? Or is this really a dream?

"Now what would a snake have in common with me?" I stopped struggling and bothered to ask. "I mean, this is *the* me that we're talking about you know."

"Ah, but we do ssshare a common enemy," the snake hissed silently. "I know that we derived from the same hands, which made us from the same laboratory. Jeb Batchler, was it not?"

Jeb Batchler…the man who freed me from a life with no purpose, but to be a test subject…the same man who led me into a new life of hope, and security…the same man who lied to me about everything I thought was true. I thought that he always loved me and my family, and that he would never let anything terrible happen to us as long as he lived. But he did…

"Yeah, you're right," I said coldly. "Let's just say he's no friend of mine anymore. I thought he was my guardian angel. Now I wish so badly that he was dead, I could taste it."

"I don't blame you, little one." The snake put a few coils around my arms and squeezed gently, like he was hugging me. "I'd hate to sssee sssuch an angel like you to forget the warm affectionsss of trussst and unconditional love."

I was about to tell him that maybe it was already too late for that, when I saw the familiar colorful lights in his eyes rotating fast, I started to get dizzy.

"You can have a new life with me, my darling angel. Trussst in me."

Oh wow…that gut-wrenching thought I had for Jeb disappeared so…quickly. I didn't know why, but when I looked into the snake's rainbow eyes…I started to smile so silly…like I just heard a humorous story. He weaved his head left…and right, and I followed. I didn't know…why I was mimicking his funky head weaving routine…but then I felt his coils massaging my body…and it felt…so…good.

"_You are my angel_," I heard…the snake sing... "_Come from way above, to bring me love_."

I felt him raising me…up to the tree…and I didn't seem to care…I continued to look…into his pretty eyes…and following his moving head…

"_Look into my eyes_," he went on…singing. "_They reveal Paradise_."

The painful memories…of Jeb, and Angel…and Fang…and Dylan…were leaving my mind…I didn't care…so glad that they're…going…away…

"_No lies in my lullaby. Feel the love tonight._"

I was…being wrapped…in a cocoon…of caressing scales…giving me a much needed…backrub…I loved it…so much…I didn't…want it…to end…

Then we heard someone coming…and the snake stopped singing.

"What's wrong?" I asked in an anxious voice.

"I'll be right back dear," he smiled so sweetly…which is kinda weird for a snake to be able to smile…but who am I to argue?

He lowered his head down to the forest floor, as I sat there so relaxed inside his…embracing coils. "Yesss, yesss, who isss it?" he called.

"Times up, freak." I suddenly recognized that menacing voice down below…as Ari's…


	6. No claws, only paws Chapter 6

"So let me get this straight real quick...YOU and Iggy just wandered off without letting me know?" Fang was fiercely upset at the Gasman when he saw him coming back from the dim jungle. What's worse, Iggy wasn't with him.

"Poor Iggy, and poor Max too!" Nudge rubbed her hands anxiously.

"I get their iPods!" Total barked. "Just kidding..." he said quickly when everyone stared at him.

"Hey, Iggy said that the screaming we heard was definitely Max's voice, and Angel was the only one who believed." Gazzy protested. "What was I suppose to do?" He crossed his arms and frowned. Clearly this was not how he expected the others to react.

Angel just looked a little disappointed at her brother. "But why didn't you look for Iggy?" she asked, although she already had a good guess as to why.

Gazzy kicked the dirt nervously "Well...I didn't want to get lost too."

"Alright guys, this is the new deal, and if anyone doesn't follow it won't live till tomorrow to be sorry." Fang drew the line. "You see that big tree over there? We're all going to sleep there for the night. That tree is also the tallest in this clearing, so I'll know if any one of you is missing. You got it?"

The kids nodded their heads. Total was the only one against that idea however. "But it-it looks too big and round. Besides, I don't have any claws."

"Aw, don't be such a chicken, chicken." Nudge giggled. Total glared.

Gazzy stifled a guffaw at Totals comment. "Fine then...Race ya!" He spread his wings and speed up to the top of the tree.

Angel rolled her eyes at her brother and opened her arms. "Come on Total, I'll carry you." she offered kindly, her sweet disarming smile on her face.

The kids each took a spot in the tree, forming a semi-circle. Fang stood on a branch a little higher than the ones his families were in, looking out into the jungle praying that Max and Iggy were alright.

The Gasman yawed and leaned back, getting comfortable. "Well I'm kind of tired so, who's gonna take the first watch?" he asked.

"I'll do it" Angle piped up, perched on the edge of a branch staring out at the jungle. Normally she would opt to take a later one but she was concerned about Max and those thoughts she heard before they were silenced, so she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. Fang was nearly startled when he felt someone snuggling close to him. He sighed in relief to see it was only Angel, trying to act like a grownup by taking watch.

"Angel." He whispered gently. "I already said I would take watch. You need to get some rest."

Angel sighed sadly "I just don't think I'll be able to get that much sleep."

Her tired innocent eyes turned to Fang who was wearing his usual stoical expression when he wanted to say "not a chance in hell."

"But I guess I could try" she finished in a bit of a defeated tone. She closed her eyes and leaned into Fang slightly.

_Well this place isn't as crappy as I thought,_ Fang spoke in his mind. _It's pretty different from civilian life. Who needs a fridge when you got food hanging over you? And when it gets hot, you don't need AC; just swoon underneath the shade. Not to mention the neighbors too._

Then he turned and saw a little frog hopping by.

"Hi neighbor." He said smirking.

Angel smiled a bit as she inadvertently read Fang's mind, he could be so silly when he thought no one was listening. She also thought she heard something else's thoughts, but she dismissed it as an animal or a member of the flock. Then she started to doze off, only vaguely ware of her surroundings. By this time, Fang and the others were asleep, as their bodies went total limp and their breath coming out in soft snores.


	7. Slow Fade Chapter 7

"Oh Ari, what a sssurprissse to sssee you here." The snake said coyly.

"Cut the crap! I let you out to give you a job to do, not to screw around."

Now that definitely sounded a lot like the voice of one Ari Batchler, or my name isn't Maximum Ride, and I should know that _pretty_ well, because Ari use to hate me so much he repulsed at the mere sound of my name. In case you newcomers reading this don't have a clue, he and I go back to the same crib at the School years ago. I later on found out that he was actually my half-brother, but I was the one who escaped and he—well, he ended up going down a different path entirely. Simply put, he was turned into an Eraser, sent to hunt me and my flock down, and unexpectedly died by my hands...or so it seemed. When it seemed like the end of the world at one time, Ari had finally made amends with me, but only to die because he expired.

Now, this Ari-impersonator here was doing a good job sounding a lot like the familiarly-scary monster who haunted my dreams months ago, whether it was a clone or robot impersonator. I leaned over a bit from the branch to get a good look at the conversation below me. The Ari-impersonator was holding a green glow-stick up against his face. The light made him look eerie and menacing like the Wolf Man from the Black Lagoon.

"So, isn't time for you to repay your dues? Or do I have to cut out another pit on your nose?" Ari growled with that same decadent look on his face that he used to flash at me.

"Oh no, not at all," the snake curled up in fright. "I hate to—to inform you, but I have nothing yet to report at the moment. You caught me jussst preparing for my nightcap."

I didn't think that the Ari-impersonator liked that answer very well. If he did, then why did he just grab the snake by the neck?

"Are you _so sure_ that you've got nothing for me?" Ari snarled. I started to cringe at his dangerous tone.

"But I…I…" the snake choked on every word. "I don't!"

"Then who's up there in your little tree?" I saw the claws on Ari's fingers beginning to draw out.

Double cringe.

I started to back up on the branch I was on, but the snake's coils were hanging loose around me. Oh man, they were heavy. I kept my balance as I continued to back up, until my back felt the tree trunk. Memories of the real Ari trapping me at an alleyway and clutching my throat started to flow back into my mind. I was almost on the brink of panicking and calling for help, but then I heard the snake saying:

"No, no, you've been totally missstaken my friend. There isss no one up there. I can prove it to you if that will appeassse your misssconception about my loyalty."

When I didn't hear anything after a minute, I peaked back over the branch. "Don't you dare insult my intelligence you gutless little worm," Ari glared with an ember burning in his eyes. "Because you're in no position to justify whatever it is you're not telling me. Now where are they?"

"W-I beg your pardon?" The snake started to ask. Ari gave him an evil look.

"Oh! The flock, that'sss right—now I remember. Well, um, I could tell you thisss, but it may not be much help to you. The flock are…are not in the village."

_SQUISH!_

Ari's gigantic hands squeezed the snake's head really frickin hard like a lemon. His whole body convulsed, and the coils around me squeezed me like a lemon too. I choked like the Gasman when I used to forced-feed him broccoli.

"I know they're not there!" Ari roared. "We sacked that place three days ago!"

"…oh, I…didn't…know…that…" I could hear the snake's barely audible voice.

"Oh how plausible, you **didn't** know? Well maybe you remember what happens to those who don't stop screwing around with what they're told to do? Do you remember what happened to Rosanna?"

I didn't hear the snake say anything after Ari mentioned someone called _Rosanna_. Who was she, another human experiment? Well, rest in peace Rosanna, I hardly knew thee. The silence went on for a few seconds, which I didn't like. Then it sounded like the snake was finally dropping his guise, so I held my breath even though most of it was already sucker-squeezed out of me.

"I sssaw them going down river. They were ssscouting the area trying to find the lab."

"Cool beans," Ari grinned. "See, now that wasn't so hard. Imagine how easy it could've been for us to be friends."

He let the snake's head slip out of his hand and turned back to the trail he came from. "I'll be back in the morning for your wake up call," he called back before disappearing into the night.

"You'd better have a good excuse tomorrow."

I let out the biggest sigh of relief I ever let out, as soon as Ari was out of hearing range of course. Then the snake came back to the tree with a troubled look on his face, which was weird for a snake to even have a face.

"Who's Rosanna?" I dared to ask, even thought it was definitely none of my business.

"Rosssanna…was my mate."

Whoa, did I feel more stupid than the time when I tried to bake cookies.

"We went over our headsss and so ssshe—ssshe was the one who sssuffered the full brunt of the white coatsss."

I nodded sympathetically, thinking about Total and Akila, his love interest. "That makes two of us I guess." I'd hate to imagine them being in this guy's shoes, or me and any one of my flock. Then I got a light bulb in my head.

"Look, I'm really sorry about your lost and what they're putting you through, but the time to stand up and say enough is finally here. Destroying that lab is just going to be the beginning of the revolution, but it'll hit them where it hurts real good. If you can help me and my flock out, I'd be very grateful."

I thought at first the snake was smiling in agreement—and yes for the millionth time it was weird for a snake to smile! Geez, if I had a doubloon for every time I said that…

Anyways, I thought at first he was smiling in agreement, but then I realized it wasn't a nice smile. More like, it was one of those _criminally_ smiles.

"I have a better idea, Maximum Ride," he hissed. "How would you like to be my persssonal plaything? Free backrubsss are included."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I got ticked off when I heard that. "When I tell Fang about what you just said, he's gonna string you into a hangman's noose you—you—you freak!"

"Aw, but I already know ssso much about Fang," the snake said gleefully. "And after I've memorized you into a blissful ssstate, you will know ssso much about Fang more than you ever did."

Memorized…blissful state? It was suddenly coming back to me. I started to remember what must've happened this morning. I ran into the same giant snake before me, and the only other thing that I remember before passing out…passing out?

"_You are my angel. Come from way above to bring me love_." The snake sung.

"IT'S YOU!" I screamed. It was already too late though; he had his loathsome coils around my body. Crap.

"No, no! I'll kill you when I get lose! I'll kill you! I'm not gonna be a mindless slave!"

"Max, what's going on?" It was Fang calling out to me, at last! I started to call back when—double crap! The snake was casting his witchy eyes again. He was imitating the voice of my lover that creep, he tricked me! My eyes were glued to his.

"There's no need to fight it Max, just keep looking into my eyes. It will all be over soon, all over."

"No!" I cried, still fighting with all my strength. "You're not my Fang! Dylan tried to play love-fool with me, and I beat his sorry ass up. No one is taking me away from Fang, no one! You hear me! No one is gonna take me…take me…away from…Fang…no one is…not you…or Jeb…or Dylan…or Ter Botch…or the…director…or…Ari…or…or…or…Hmm, yeah! Fang, keep going—I love what you're doing! Harder, keep going, harder! Harder…harder…hard…hmm…zzzzzzzzzz."


	8. An Unexpected Meeting Chapter 8

None of the flock had even the slightest hint of knowing about Max's crazy predicament. When the full shape of the sun appeared over the trees, the flock ascended into the jungle to find their missing members. While the younger ones stayed in a group and went off to another direction, Fang was lured by the noise of some muffling within the trees. He was sure that it wasn't any jungle animal's noise he had ever heard, so naturally he was curious. When he reached the spot though, he saw that it was—

"Iggy! What the hell happened to you?"

Iggy's head popped up at the sound of his friend's voice. "FANG!" he cried. "Oh you have no idea how glad I am that you're here." He struggled against the knots that fastened his wings to his back like a clipped bird.

"Judging that I'm not feeling anyone undoing my knots, you're just standing there gawking at me like a dumb-ass three year old. What, you thought I wondered off into this God-forsaken jungle to practice knot tying?"

Fang quickly snapped out of his flabbergasted state. "Sorry Ig, it's just that it's so weird that someone would just tie you up to a tree and leave you there…speaking of which, who **did** this to you Iggy?"

"Okay," Iggy sighed as Fang got to work on the knots. "Right now, I'm strongly working under the theory that Max has been lobotomized by a talking snake."

He said it in all seriousness, but Fang couldn't believe what he had told him. He paused in tediousness.

"Look, I know you think it doesn't sound realistic or plausible, but then maybe talking dogs with wigs aren't ether." Iggy pulled one arm free from the vines. "Listen! My point is that Max could be in deeper crap than you or I can imagine. The white coats may have built some kind of biological weapon, and we were the frigging test subjects; Max and me because I'm blind."

"Alright, alright," Fang quickly undid the last knot. "Do you know which way Max and this _snake_ went?"

"Not exactly, but I think he was gonna follow Gazzy back to camp when we came through here yesterday." Iggy stretched his limbs as the vines fell off of him. "And...I don't think you should look that snake in the face." He warned, spreading his wings.

"Again, I have no frigging idea what you're talking about Ig, but I guess I'll have to take your word for it. Let's go find the other kids and get back to camp now."

"Roger!" Iggy saluted. So the boys pushed off and flew away to rescue the others.

Meanwhile…

Angel continued to trek though the undergrowth, looking for any clues like tracks or maybe candy wrappers. She turned around and saw neither Nudge, nor Total or her brother, anywhere in site._Looks like I'm on active duty after all,_she thought smirking. Then she unfolded her wings and levitated into the treetops. Levitated was the accurate definition, because she looked as though she was half floating and half flying simultaneously up in the air. This wasn't any act of a new ability, but simply because she was as graceful as a swan. As she perched herself on the branch, she looked out over the jungle in wonder, and wariness.

_...Max...where are you?_

Suddenly, a new wave of thoughts passed into Angel's mind. It was like those of Max...but not _the_ Max. Maybe it was her clone...no, unless…she crept slowly and silently to the source of the strange thoughts. When she came to the edge of a branch on the tree she was on, she glided over to the next tree, and then the waves were starting to feel closer and closer.

She ascended into a clearing within the tree tops and almost landed on Max. When the pair saw each other, they stared at each other for a second or two before Angel broke the silence.

"Max, what…are you wearing?" She asked, frightened and disgusted. Max's ratty jeans and baggy shirt were gone; she was almost bare to the skin save for a leopard-skin loin cloth and bra. From her hand, she dropped a reddish colored mango she had just eaten. Then she took a swing at Angel's head, but she swiftly ducked and retreated to another corner.

"Max stop it!" she yelled, unwilling to hurt her leader. She tried to reach out to her with her mind—

_Have to fight the clone and get her to Fang...Need to find the real flock...have to obey Fang..._

Angel was dumb struck...someone had really screwed with Max's mind. Maybe she could fix it...but suddenly—

"Over here, deliciousss sssnack." Angel whirled around and saw a huge snake descending over her head like a spider to a fly. At once when she saw it, flashes of color began to glow from its eyes. Angel tried to scream, but the aurora of the snake's eyes were so beautiful to look at she stopped. Her voice wouldn't make a single sound, it couldn't make a sound, but for some reason—she felt that it didn't need to.

_What's going on?_ Angel thought. _Why couldn't I hear his thoughts before he…ooh, what pretty colors in his eyes…_

As soon as Angel was under the trance, Max pulled out a knife from behind her and held it against the little girl's neck. "Alright, so what now Fang?" she looked at the snake. "Should we interrogate her?"


	9. Thirtyfive Minutes Ago Chapter 9

_**Thirty-five minutes ago…**_

_As soon as Max awoke from her nightcap, the snake hit her full on with his colorful orbs. When he suggested someone close to her, a single name popped into her head. _

_"Fang…"_

_"Good," the snake hissed lowly like a whisper. "Good, very good...becaussse I want you to acknowledge that I am Fang."___

_As he spoke, his gaze grew wider and his coils grew tighter. "Now I want you to underssstand this precisely, and with complete comprehensssion: I-am-Fang.  
I'm am thisss very perssson you hold dear to, except you will abide to my every command at your will. You will want to protect me, lisssten to me, and obey me. You will want to ssserve me well becaussse I am the sssame Fang you remember. I am Fang, underssssstand?"_

_Max blinked lazy as she listened to his words. Every time she blinked, the giant serpent before her was slowly changing form into a tall bird kid with long dark hair, black wings and dressed head to toe in black. She only continued to nod weakly, his commands slowly becoming etched into her mind and her normally independent personality being reshaped into the snake's whim._

_The snake smiled pleasantly and asked Max, "Tell me, *little one,* who do you want so obey and why?"_

_"Max smiled softly. "Because..." she sighed out blissfully, slowly believing that the serpent was her best friend. "Because I want to, Fang."_

_"Now that isss a good answer." replied the snake. The vibration of his coils began to slow down but did not stop its rhythm. Yet, it was enough for Max to make her melt. She started to succumb back into a sleep.___

_"Pleassse don't fall asssleep jussst yet," the snake pleaded, sweetly patting Max's cheeks with his tail to keep her awake. "Keep ssstaring into my eyesss jussst a bit longer."_

_Max's mindless smiled widened a bit more. "Okay," she exhaled, the colors in her eyes flashing brighter. Her face became a mask of mindless bliss, her mind was dissolving from her normal state of being, and her eyes were no longer seeing the serpent's true form. _

"_Now whenever I sssnap my tail like two fingersss," said the snake, "you will stand at an attention and await any orders I give you. For now, after I sssnap my tail, everything that I've told you will ssstick to your mind inssstantly."_

_Then after three seconds, he snapped his tail, and a soft *ping* rang through Max's head._

_"Hi Fang" she then sighed happily._

I yawned the biggest yawn I ever did yawned like a lioness after eating a cub-sandwich—okay so maybe that did sound a little warped, but back home they call me a celebrity, so I can get away with it, right? Anyways, I woke from what must've felt like the greatest snooze I ever took in my whole life, when I saw Fang right beside me.

I smiled lazily at him, not caring that his breath smelled like dead rabbits and birds, but then a confused look crossed my face. "Where's...everyone else?" I asked in a slightly concerned voice.

"We found the white-coats and their lab," Fang explained to me. "We were leaving to find you, but then they caught up with us. I got away, but they grabbed the others. And Max—" Fang looked at me with a dead-serious look—"They've replaced them with evil copies of them all, including me."

"What?" I growled and clenched my fists at the same time.

"I'm sorry Max," Fang looked away in shame. "I—I should've done something. It was my family at stake too.

"…It's alright Fang. I'd rather not lose every single flock member to those sick bastards." I assured him with a hand on his face—his cold, scaly face—which didn't seem worth the trouble to ask about. "Now, let's go beat the tar outta them!"

_Whoosh _

I snapped out my wings, getting ready to launch. "Where're they hiding?" I asked, anxiously ready for butt whopping.

"What a second Max, you'll need this for protection." Fang pulled a lethal looking knife from behind him, a SOG by the looks of it. I hesitated for a second. Personally, I would've preferred my fists and feet in combat. It was considered my flock's moral code that we'd never _ever_ touch guns or knives, since they were bad-guy-only weapons. But if Fang says it's for protection, I could make an exception.

"You're also gonna need dirt on your face for camouflage." Fang pointed out.

"Right," I said, so I put aside the knife and painted my face with the muddy earth. If only Nudge could see me now, she'd say that I was doing a bad impression of Lady Gaga, the fame monster. Get it? FAME MONSTER…oh well.

"And you'll also need to wear this," he raised a leopard skin bikini, "...to move faster when you fly. Trust me; we'll need to get there as fast as we can."

"Ummmm…ooooookkkkkkkaaaaayyyyyy…" I gingerly picked up both pieces of the outfit and held them at arm's length. Seeing that Fang wasn't going anywhere, I blushed a little. "Do you mind?" I asked in a shy voice.

Fang whirled around and closed his eyes faster than a mouse trap on a kangaroo rat. I was pretty sure that he wasn't going to try and sneak a peek—he wouldn't dare anyways, not if he wanted a whelp in the ass, so I took my time getting changed.

As I pulled my shirt over my head, I asked, "You sure about this Fang? I mean, how does this give _any_ help to fighting a batch of flock-imposters? And where did you get these…kinky pieces of cotton anyhow, Party City?"

"Actually, they're not made out of cotton." I realized that Fang sounded like he was going to confess that he was cheating on me. "See, a few days ago, I found a leopard near our camp. I took a big rock and—and don't freak out—I—"

Unfortunately, I already knew what he had done…

"GEEZ'US CRIPES FANG!" I screamed, throwing down the garments to the ground. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? WE CAME HERE TO PREVENT ANIMAL CRUELTY, NOT ENDORSE IT! AND WHY THE NEW ATTIRE? WE WERE ONLY GONNA BE HER FOR A FEW DA—"

_*snap*_

_No sooner did the snake snap his tail like two fingers, Max stopped ranting and stood in attention, motionless like a statue. _

_"I know that death is a horrendousss thing Max, but that isss not what isss bothering you. You feel __quite uncomfortable and irritably hot with all those clothesss, becaussse, after all, you're in the steamy jungle. You want to wear an appropriate clothesline and also impress me while wearing one, alright?"_

_*snap*_

I blinked for a second, forgot what I was going to say next, and then slipped off my socks and hiker boots. Man, was it hot out here or what?  
I noticed Fang watching me, but it didn't bother me…not one bit. I finally got into the bikini, which felt good because I wasn't baking like a cookie anymore, and posed a little for Fang's eyes. "So how do I look, lover boy?" I asked.

He shuffled his body awkwardly, as if trying not to say anything embarrassing while at the same keeping his gaze on me.

I smiled coyly. "Men," I sighed sarcastically.

"Well, if you want my opinion," said Fang, "I'd say you should go for the heroine archetype if you don't want to be mistaken for the bimbo archetype."

"Like a superhero?"

"Like a super hero," Fang continued. "They need a costume and a different ego. In this case, you could be…I got it, JUNGLE BIRD."

I stood there blinking in utter silence. Then I burst out laughing.

"Oh God...Congratulations Fang! You finally found a sense of humor that doesn't revolve around sarcasm!" I gasped out falling to my knees from laughing so hard.  
"J-Jungle B-Bird" I howled with mirth.

"I-I think you're taking this a bit too far Fang." I stopped laughing and picked myself up so I could better look into his face confidently. "Look, if you're worried about me not saving the world, don't be. I'll kick the evil clone's butts the same way you guys kicked my clone's butt, then we'll save the flock, have Gazzy blow up the lab, and then leave this place to go back to saving the world and all that. First, we're gonna ask the CSM to get us a nice house with a Lay-Z-boy."

We looked into each other's eye for a moment, feeling like we've just made fools of ourselves. Then I shuffled my wings and got ready to take off.

"C'mon…EMO-maniac," I said with a grin on my face. "Time for Jungle Bird and her emo-sidekick to open up a can of whoop—"

_*snap*_

"_Not yet, my bloodthirsssty Amazon," the snake chortled._

_He looped his coils around Max's exposed neck and robust chest to give her a hugging squeeze. She only stood there, straight as a tree, with that silly wide grin on her face. Her wings drooped behind her back, but they felt fluffy and soft against his hard, dry scales. Her hair shone bright with the rising sun behind, and her extra proportioned petite body just looked so delicious in her little lingerie._

_So this was what the School's greatest experiment has come too. This would certainly bring shocking news to the whole world.___

_Maximum Ride, the avian avenger who is 98% human and 2% bird. The 8__th__ wonder of genetic science, a survivor of countless incursions with white coats, Erasers, and mad scientists, and leader of the one and only band of merry mutants called the Flock.___

_Captured and tamed by a low life talking snake into wearing a kinky outfit, and making her think that he's her friend, this Fang._

_"Now, you will be a giddy and air-headed little girl who desssiresss me with a passsion." The snake ordered. "When I sssnap my tail a second time though, you ssshall go and hunt the clone impossstersss for me. Understand?"___

_Max's head popped up. "Wait—what? GAH!"_

_*snap*___

_"Hiiiiiiiiii Fangy baby!"_


	10. Play Time Chapter 10

_Max had a disgustingly sweet bubblegum smile on her face that matched her new scatterbrained personality. She gave the snake a cute little wave and titled her head coyly._

_"Hi there, my little toy," the snake replied joyfully. "I can't wait to ussse thisss time to play with you in any way that I pleassse, can you?"___

_He squeezed her tummy a bit with his coil, which made her giggle childishly.___

_"Uh huh! I'm so excited!" she nodded emphatically._

_A chill ran down the snake's spine, but he smiled, and decided to savor the time he had before he could put his little slave to work.___

_"Oh pleassse, possse for me a little won't you?" He offered his long tail around her._

_Pose for him? Suddenly, Max was hit with a sense of nostalgia. That word was never in her vocabulary, but the snake's power was too great for her mind to revert back to normal now. Still, his command was starting to irritate her for some reason...like some reminder to her that this wasn't who she was? __If Max could, if ever, revert back to her right mind, she would scream, thrash, and flap her wings wildly, beat his head, and bite his tail until it bled profusely._

_But this wasn't the snake she was seeing now. It was Fangy Baby! She wanted to please him so much, like she never did before. She let that last bit of her consciousness just slip between her fingers like a crucifix from a sinner's hands.__Then she put her hands behind her head and ruffled her hair a bit before striking a lavishing runway pose. One of her hands was on her hip and the other pulled slightly on her bikini bottoms. She gently took the snake's tail in her hands, rubbing it softly with her thumbs, loving the feel of the coils against her skin.___

_"Anything for you" she cooed softly._

_The snake grew a disgusting grin of satisfaction on his cold face. After a few minutes had gone by, the snake said: "Now, come and lay down in my warm coilss pleassse."___

_Max's face became one of pure joy when he mentioned "warm coilsss". She nearly jumped into the pile of coils he had prepared for her. She nuzzled them quite lovingly, wanting nothing more than to be completely surrounded by them._

"_I want everything you can give me!" Max implored, begging for everything her master had._

_"Of course you do," the snake said through his smile. "Now, ssstand ssstill pleassse." Just as he asked, Max's body went completely still and relaxed._

_He rolled her around and around like a fruit roll-up until she was covered from her neck to her knees in a cocoon. Then every roll of coils, in one union, started to squeeze her body, but the snake wasn't trying to suffocate her. _

Just think of Max's experience inside the snake's coils like your arm in one of those machines that check your blood pressure. It defibrillates and suppresses the bloodline to your arm until you can barely feel it.

_Max's body was entirely numb she could barely feel herself breathing. Then the best part came. The coils began to vibrate like that massage from a five star hotel which she remembered, and she began to feel so good. The pressure grew stronger and stronger with each passing second, and it wasn't even the full potential of the snake's strength.___

_"Isss thisss good ssso far?" The snake asked._

_Max moaned pleasurably, throwing her head back in ecstasy. "Oh yes! Oh GOD YES!" She cried out in pure satisfaction. "PLEASE! Give me more!"_

The snake was more than obliged to offer, even though he knew there was no choice on the matter. Who could not concur with this pretty creature anyways? She was everything that he wanted inside a tasty toy; a half delicious human and half **delectable** bird.


	11. Where's Nudge? Chapter 11

_**Now**_

Not far away, the rest of the flock was huddled within an alcove high atop the canopy of a mango tree, hearing the disturbing news that Iggy was telling them. Neither of them realized how much trouble Angel was in, nor did they know that Max, under a new persona, and the scheming serpent would soon be on their way...

"So then he left me tied up next to a tree in a bunch of vines," Iggy was elaborating, "and that's we're I've been all night."

The three remaining flock members, Nudge, Total, and the Gasman, were wide-eyed with worry and confusion at the same time. The Gasman was the most shocked besides Iggy, having experienced a close brush with probably the same serpent before, but he was too embarrassed to say anything about it.

"Poor Max," Nudge bit her lips. "We've got to find her, and then beat the heck out of that creepy snake."

"You're not that far off from what I was thinking," Iggy replied.

"Say, if she gets eaten, can I have her iPod?" Total giggled in a puppyish sound. Under normal circumstances, everyone would've thought that was weird and cute at the same time. The grim frowns on the kid's faces told Total that his timing couldn't have been worse.

"Just kidding," Total quickly apologized. "But seriously, doesn't anyone else here think that Iggy looks like he had been mugged by a troop of monkeys?"

Iggy rolled his eyes at Total's description of his appearance. "You're probably not that far off ether," he muttered darkly. The kids laughed at that joke, but with their grave situation hanging in the air, it didn't last for more than one second.

"Maybe this snake is the white-coat's some sort of bio-weapon," Nudge theorized. "So maybe that means that their lab can't be too far away."

"Whoa, time out here Nudge," Total held out his front paws. "Let's take things one step at a time. First of all, *bio-weapon?*"

"Well, how do you explain it?"

Everyone else seemed to have their own theory, but before anyone could say another word, they heard three knocks and one tap outside the alcove. It was the flock's secret knocking technique. Iggy responded with the return secret knock, and Fang came inside with a look of anxiousness in his eyes.

"Where's Angel?" He said.

When everyone said they had no idea, Fang's face turned into a "WTH" (what the heck) display. "Alright guys, here is the new plan. Anybody who doesn't listen will be sorry, so pay attention."

At once, the flock huddled tightly in a pack to listen, which was something that they all thought was childish and emasculating, but none of them wanted to suffer the wraith of Fang so they did it anyways.

Skipping a long dialogue ahead, Fang devised a system in which the flock would stay together but also cover enough ground at the same time. The flock would make a straight line in which each flock member were a certain distance away from each other; fifteen meters for each kid (and dog).

As none of them carried walkie-talkies, Fang told everyone to use vocal calls that everyone could recognize (Gazzy was extremely disappointed that he wasn't allowed to make burping noise, as this would've sound too conspicuous and just plain disgusting).

"I have just one question before we go," said Total.

"Aw, not another potty break!" The flock cried unanimously. Fang took it very harshly.

"Ok, if anyone has to go, then go. CAUSE WE'RE NOT GONNA BE STOPPING!"

Total paused for a moment. "What I meant to ask was . . . what do we do if one of us runs into the snake?"

Fang pounded his fists together and looked away in humiliation. Out of all the time he spent on mapping out his rescue plan, he spent his time worrying about Max and Angel more than he did about the snake. Max was the better planner than he was because she always kept a better focal point and cooler head than him, which were the main reasons why she was the flock leader instead of him; nothing having to do with gender or strength evaluation.

"I've got my bag full of bombs!" Gazzy waved. "But nobody tell Max, ok?"

Fang smirked at the genius-kid, relieved that he had saved him from Total's problematic question. "Don't care," he ruffled Gazzy's hair. "Just as long it'll go boom."

Iggy smiled at the mention of "boom," but then he felt a weird vibe that seemed to have come out of nowhere. As if something he had felt was now missing. It slowly dawned on him like an ignited candle . . . he was no longer smelling the flowery mangrove perfume from Nudge anymore.

"Um, guys, where's Nudge?"

The other boys turned around and saw Iggy by himself, and Fang did that WTH with his face again.

N/A: Sorry for placing this story of hiatus for so long. I've been doing a lot of other things that I've wanted to do, such as writing another fan fic staring Kaa. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter.


	12. Two Birds with one stare, Chapter 12

My eyes blinked from the rays of the sun as, gradually, I woke up. Now, the first feeling I started to feel on some moments whenever I wake up was the norm: metabolically cranky. Sometimes I'll just be cranky, and that's the nice Max that you'll want to hear waking. But what really was unusual was that I felt something bulky wrapped all the way 'round me, up to my neckline, something like a fire hose hugging me sweetly. I tried shuffling my limbs a bit which was no problem, at least I was't that wrapped up tightly, I shook off whatever was hugging me and worked my wobbly legs to stand... was I sleeping within a snake's tendril in a fuzzy bra?

Just as things were slowly dawning to me, the next big shocker to greet me was the smiling face of the snake.  
"Rissse and ssshine, sssleepyhead," he said as he ruffled my messy tangle of tawny gold hair. "Did you have a nice nap?"

Still feeling that my alert-o-meter was reading "no-go," all I could do was try to get some answers. "What happened… how long have I been asleep?"

"For the whole morning," the snake said cheerfully. "I needed you to ressst up a bit more, so that my influence over you would lassst longer without ressspite. Don't worry, it isss perfectly normal not to recollect anything after a hypnotherapy, eh, a fairly interesssting hypnotherapy. Jeb will be ssso proud of me."

"Hang on a minute... you think you can screw around with my mind?!" I raised both eyebrows. All I could remember was... nope, I got nothing to remember, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"Yes," but the snake continued calmly, "just look at what happened with the little exposure I gave to you. Don't act like you were bench-presssing poundsss of granite and eating gristle just minutesss ago. You were acting like a happy, little bunny who jussst wanted to be held."

I was too confused to give into whatever he said, even though someone inside me said that he was right. At the same time however, I was slowly becoming angry. "What, you think you know me so frigging well? Like all the other scum-bellied, needle pushing narcissists who thought they did?

"Sssilly, sssilly, sssilly child," said the snake as he raised his head to meet my own eyes. "I can sssee right through you, even without my eyesss ("Which you won't have, as soon as I'm totally awake," I seethed under my breath). You act like like you're unbreakable when you really are a docile, little trite. You have to melodramatically contrive your toughnesss to thossse you perceive as a threat, as a way of masssking your insssecuritiesss. Ssspeaking of insssecuritiesss..."

He unraveled his coils around my legs, deviously revealing that all this time I've only been wearing a leopard-skinned bikini. "Ssstill think that you're in control? Tee, hee, hee."

"I'd like my clothes back please," I demanded firmly, carefully without setting him off that I was on the brink of a murder rampage.

"Oh but Max, you're much more sssusceptible to my coilsss with sssome bare ssskin," he smiled disgustingly. "And just think, what geek fanboy in the world wouldn't give to sssee me charm you while you wear that. It'sss all a fassscinating role play, isn't it?"

"Why-" I started to scream before he cut me off.

"All you need to know, my little jungle bird," His tail weaved around me and patted my bum. "You're lucky that I let you wear sssomething."

"YOU BASTARD!" Without another threat said, I lashed out at the worm. Fingernails posed like claws, jaws foaming, wings buzzing like a hornet's wings, I let the scum have it. No matter how much he begged, I wouldn't stop until he bled. Oh yeah, did he still think I was cute and sexy now?

"You'd better watched that temper of yoursss," he said behind me, making me stop myself to realize that I was licking a tree to death. "You might chip one of your nailsss."

How did he move so fast? It's not like he had enough room to duck in a small perimeter like the treetop boughs we were in, what did he do different? I was just about to turn around where the snake was and try again, but this time I balled my fists. The next thing I knew, I smacked nothing but air. Thinking fast, I stretched out my wings to balance myself back onto the branch before I fell off.

"What isss your deal?" said the snake mockingly, "do you have a visssion problem? Just hit me." That jerk was gonna feel pain real slowly, but I didn't want to fall for any of his traps again. This time, I tried being the one luring him: "Afraid to fight me yourself, you cowardly snake?!"

He replied, "And you had better watch that tongue of yoursss."

"Then come down here and make me," I growled, "Mary Frigging Poppins!"

He showed his head again, and I went into ramming speed towards it-

He tapped my cheek with his tail. Noting more than a tap, like a BFF tap, but it knocked the wind right out of me. Head was spinning, muscles were weakening, legs were wobbly.

"What's hap..." was all I could form before it quickly trailed into a slur. My derpy eyes searched out for something that'll brace me. A vine. I tried walking in coordinated steps towards it, which was more like a drunken sleepwalk; that's how hopeless I was. Without caring if it was too far out of reach, I stretched out and caught the vine. But the snake wasn't done with me, so without having so much as an inch of consistency, he slowly slithered right beside me. Before I let him make another damn gesture, I breathed in and aimlessly flailed one of my fists around in selfdefense.

"I guesss you still haven't learned your place," he sighed like he was so disappointed with me.

"You... shut..." I was furious with what was going on, but the weakness swelling up inside me kept me from speaking right, let alone murdering right. He gave me the beating tap again, and that was it. Arms drooped to the side, eyes dizzily rolling into my head, mouth hanging open... unable to speak... anymore...

"Oh Max, you really ssshould have jussst sssuccumbed to me... and trusssted in me."

_Trussssst in me, oh jussssst in me. Ssssshut your eyesssss, and trussssst in me._

_Max slowly regressed under Kaa's control, like a cat to an alluring ornament. She struggled to keep her eyelids opened and her muscles tensed, but they both seemed to be getting heavier and heavier, and the feeling of Kaa's long body, disguised as the vine Max saw, sliding along her chest was just too much. Her eyes finally fell shut and she began to snore._

_Without anything to brace her, she slid off the branch and fell a few feet, only to be caught in Kaa's make-shift hammock. Emphasizing on his victory even further, Kaa lifted the defeated bird girl over the canopy of his tree and held her limp body over his head. He vaingloriously spun her around as if he was allowing the eyes of the outside world to feast over his triumph. He had a lot to be proud of, at least his mind said so._

_"You're sssnoring," he chided playfully to Max, who breathed in deeply._

_"Sssorry..." she replied in a long, blissful sigh._

_After a few more minutes of gloating, Kaa lowered Max into a much wider space amongst the trees where he could fit as much of his coils as he could. Like a puppet without strings, Max fell back onto Kaa's coils after he tried setting her down. He had no fear of jolting her awake, because she was so anesthetized by his bioengineered power of suggestion that she could scarcely feel a thing, unless he said the suggestive command for her to wake. Though he could choose to be rough on her, if that's what he wanted, for now he decided to be gentile with her. Mostly gentile._

"_You've been a nassty, little girl." With his jaws, he hoisted the jungle girl by the back rims of her loincloth until he gave her a wedgie. While he kept her hoisted up, her arms, feet, and wings dangling, he spanked her with his tail. Remembering his choice to be gentile with her, his spanking was mild and playful, although it did leave some lightly red lashes on both cheeks. Max moaned softly with mirth instead of pain._

"_Ssso it ssseemsss," Kaa chuckled after he was done, "that they were wrong. You never had a sssevere case of ophidiophobia after all, jussst becaussse you're a bird girl. Deep down, you enjoy being degraded by a sssnake, don't you?" Max nodded sleepily as a big, stupid smile grew on her face._

_"Good girl," Kaa whispered to her gently, "good girl."_

_What followed was a whole day of pure fixation on treating Max as nothing but a human toy. Kaa let her fall forward whenever she tried standing her up and always caught her with a loop of his coils around her waist. He did this a couple of times, sort of like bouncing her like a yo-yo, until he decided to change his catching technique by catching her by the rim of her loincloth. He did this over, and over, and over again not once feeling that this was wrong in any way._

_"Ssstand up ssstraight," he said after he tired playing yo-yo._

_Max's legs stiffened as straight as arrows, her arms planted along her sides. Her eyes were halfway shut revealing some white in her eyes, brought on by the constant fondling. Kaa slithered up to her face and raised her chin with his tail. "Oh Maxy, can you ssstill hear me?"_

_"Yesss," the girl droned happily._

_Kaa's smile grew bigger. He laid out a trunk of his coils in front of Max and tipped her to flop on top of it, when he gasped and saw an embarrassing sight. "Oh dear," he ostentatiously exclaimed out loud. "I really mussst be more careful with your attire. Your poor, little behind isss nearly exposssed." True enough, Max's loincloth/bikini bottom was scrunched all the way up until it looked like a thong. Her subconscious mind processed the news of this wardrobe malfunction, and told her to relax and just blush sheepishly, which she did, and not turn around and beat the living crap out of the snake as the other Max would normally do. But then Kaa fixed her bikini bottom back into it's regular proportion, and so she sighed blissfully in relief. Her breathing was adequately even; the snake could feel her warm chest go up and down as she laid there._

_"Very good, girl-cub." Kaa continued. "You know I could've just have you in no clothesss at all as I sssaid before, but I wouldn't want you to freeze in the winter rain, or sssizzle in the sssun, but I digress."_

_Then, as if he was situating an action figure, Kaa sat Max straight up again, gently bended both her knees, and fixed her head to look forward. When he put her back down on his belly, she looked like she was standing on all fours like an animal. As a final touch to that, he wrapped the very last end of his tail around her neck to replicate a leash._

_"Now, crawl to me," he commanded._

_Max did as she was told, clumsily walking along the trunk of his body like a fat cat on a fence, only being held up by the make-shift leash. A stupid grin was still on her face, and her eyes were still halfway closed. After a couple minutes, she was halfway to his head. Then Kaa conjured the same vibration motion he had been working on Max sometime before into his tail, which had the same, soothing effect that had pacified Max. Pretty soon, she ecstatically began to drool saliva from her front lips._

_"Jussst keep going, Maxy," said Kaa encouragingly. Max kept on crawling, but it slowly became harder to do so. Her legs and arms were filling with tons of dead weight. Her walking became clumsier and clumsier. Just as soon it looked like she would drop dead, she made it face-to-face with Kaa._

_"Ssso, my pretty," Kaa teased as the two stayed eye-to-eye with each other. "What was it that you were planing to do with my head just minutes ago?"_

_Of course, Max's submissive persona couldn't remember the strong and pragmatic heroine that tried to claw the evil fiend to death, but that didn't stop her from trying. The more she did think, however, her vibrating collar muddled her mind even more, until she giggled idiotically and fell flat on her face, with her cute butt sticking up in the air. Smiling leeringly to himself again, Kaa lifted her head up and said, "Ah, I remember now."_

_He slowly propped Max's mouth open and wiggled his forked tongue inside. The squirmy feeling sent a current of ecstasy down her spine, making her moan and drool even more. This was the first time she was ever intimately evolved with any male, even if she was back in her own mind. Fang never came close enough to this._

_The snake, on the other hand, had not shared such a lustful yet intimate moment with a female in a long time since his first, and sadly his last, mate had departed. It didn't feel quite as good as his old mate's tongue, but the bird girl was still enriching with sensational goodness. For an animal, he possessed the intoxicating desires of a man, but not the man's intellect to reflect them. Until Jeb gave him one._

_Then one decadent idea lead to another; he pulled away from Max, stretched out both of her legs wide open until they were far apart from each other. He gave her another slithering kiss before she bended her all the way forward until her head was between her legs. "My, my, what a flexible girl you are," the snake admired. He let her stay in that position for a minute, flipped her on her back, and then bended her forward again. Back and forth; he made her do the same thing over, and over, and over again when his coil slid across the bird girl's foot. She giggled softly._

_"Hmmm… it ssseems that you are very ticklish, aren't you?" Kaa asked teasingly._

_"Yes… " she giggled._

_"Don't tell me; where'sss your tickle ssspot?"_

_"I'm… he he… not t-telling…" Max playfully showed a little resistance to her master._

_"Well then, I'll have to find out, won't I?" He tickled the soles of her bare feet and between her toes. Max began to squirm and laugh louder, but Kaa had an idea that it wasn't the most sensative spot. He moved up to around her belly button and tickled faster. Max shrieked with laughter._

_"Isss it your tummy?"_

_"N-n-n-not my… ha ha HA… t-t-tummy!"_

_Pretending to be frustrated to get her working up, Kaa gently flipped Max onto her belly, bind her hands with tail, lifted her up a few inches off the ground, and began to tickle under her arms with his tongue. Max's uproarious laughter would put an audience laughing at a clown's execution to shame._

_"NO! HA, HA, HA! YOU FOUND IT! __HA, HA, HA! I GIVE UP!"_

_"I think we have a winner," said Kaa in a sing-song voice. He placed Max back down, who was still twitching in uncontrollable spasms. He settled her down with a vibrating collar around her neck, and very soon she was moaning away into a state of bliss. "Very good, my ssslave. From now on, I will addresss to you however I like, and you will ressspond, "yesss massster," correct?"_

_Max was still in bliss to hear whatever Kaa just said. Noticing this, he flipped her around again and lightly spanked her. Her head perked up, and she smiled childishly. "Yesss, massster." The lisp was a nice touch, though not intended, but Kaa left it at that as he flung Max back into his coils. It would serve as his verbal mark of ownership. As the sun went down, Kaa scooted Max into a secluded part of the trees, where he had Angel wrapped up comfortably in her own coils._

"_Thisss was ssso much," he gloated. "And I have you, little Angel, to thank for ssspicing up the confusssion with your mind trick during your friend's little fit."_

"_Thank you, massster," she replied.  
"That remindsss me, I did promissse Ari that I would inform him very sssoon upon your capture, and I did promissse you, Maxy, that we would hunt down the clone impossstorsss... oh, who am I kidding? I've messsed with your mind ssso much, you probably don't even remember what I just sssaid in the lassst three sssecondsss, do you?"_

"_...Nope, massster," Max slurred idiotically.  
"Besssidesss," Kaa said to himself, "what do I owe to that brain damaged, pretentiousss little brat? Who'sss home turf doesss he think he'sss treading on anywaysss? Bah! No matter, what can he do to me now, now that I have leverage? Oh, he ssstill givesss me the sssssssssshiversss." With that long, drawn out lisp, he shook himself fearfully at the thought of Ari. Unknown to him, his shivering had cause Max and Angel to stir. Their limbs loosened, they shook their heads, and then their eyes were wide open at the sight of Kaa.  
Then they both yawned and slumped back into their state of bliss (gotcha=).  
"Why would he pick on thessse poor, little, helplesss girlsss?" Kaa was still in his little soliloquy, when something in his mind ticked his attention back to the two girls. "Oh yesss," he chuckled. "Thossse poor, little, helplesss girlsss... goodnight, my preciousss, flesssh puppetsss. More playtime tomorrow."_

"_Goodnight, massster," sighed Max and Angel together. Each girl even got their own goodnight kiss; Kaa flickered Angel's dimple nose which made her giggle, and gave Max another oral licking that made her squirm cheerfully. Soon, both of the coiled up cuties were snoozing away. Kaa himself would have a long, peaceful snooze through the night._

Nudge didn't know what freaked her out more as she flew over the dark jungle as fast as her wings could pull her: seeing Max in that hideous rage, or seeing her in that disgusting snake's control. More than anything, she would've rather stayed and helped her fight than to fly off, but then she would be caught along with her, and then there'd be no one to go back to warn Fang and the boys. At least that's Nudge tried telling herself over and over again, to keep herself from crying from the fact that she was flying away instead of saving Max. And now the snake had Angel too. "I'm sorry Max," she said tearfully, "and I'm sorry Angel. I'll come back with help, I promise."

"Ari," said the guard at the door, "we think the wrangler's taken some of the freaks."

"What?" Ari growled horribly

"They're nowhere on our grid, they're just gone!"

"But how? I..." Ari, for whatever reason in his fevered mind, suddenly changed his plans.

"Never mind, get out you idiot!" As soon as his henchmen left his room, Ari flipped his knife out and twisted the blade in his bare hand until he bled. Slowly, for it took a while to wake up the nerves. _I taught you better than to ruin a good plan._

"I don't care!" Ari snapped at Jeb. "I'll find her," he snarled viciously. "I'll find her, if I have to burn down this whole, damn jungle! I'll find her!"

And so, here is my triumphant return, starting it all off with my guilty pleasure gone wild. Thank you to those who favorite this story, wrote me reviews, and encouraged me to continue.


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